Bounding top.



No. 742,858. v PATENTBD NOV. 3, 1903.

- w. GRIFFIN.

BOUNDING TOP.

AAAAAAAAA OK'I'ILED EAR. 31, 1903..

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ing topthat is to say, a top which in one Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT Prion.

WILLIAM GRIFFIN, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

BOUNDING TOP.

SEEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 742,858, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed March 31, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM GRIFFIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bounding Tops, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to spinning-tops; and my object is to produce what I term a boundspinning action will bound into the air and after each contact with the ground rebound again until the force with which it was thrown to the ground is entirely spent, the spinning action, due to the rapid unwinding of the string, continuing for a short time after the bounding action ceases.

A further object is to produce a device of this character of simple, strong, durable, and cheap construction.

To these ends the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and combinations of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a top embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a central'vertical section of the top. Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken on the line III III of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a centralvertical section of a modified form of the top. Fig. 5 is a crosssection on the line V V of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the plug-stem sleeve as provided with a spiral slot.

In the said drawings, 1 designates a top of the form shown or of any other suitable or preferred type and provided with a small central bore or passage 2, which may be formed clear through the top, as in Fig. 2, or extend from its lower end a suitable distance upward, as shown in Fig. 4. In either case the lower portion of said passage isdiametrically enlarged to provide a chamber 3.

4 designates a sleeve, preferably of metal, fitting tightly in the bore or passage 2 and provided with a laterally-projecting flange 5, bearing against the upper end or base of chamber 3.

In the preferred construction, as shown by Fig. 2, a substantially semicircular cup 6, of

rubber, is fitted in chamber 3 and bears at Serial N0. 150,421. (No model.)

its upper end against flange 5, and said cup is vertically and centrally perforated, as at 7. In the modification in lieu of said resilient cup I employ a helical spring 8.

The plug 9 is formed with an enlargement 10 to fit snugly in the lower portion of chamber 3 andbear at its upper end against cup 6 or spring 8, accordingly as one or the other is employed, said plug enlargement from the lower margin of the body of the top being of in-- verted conical form, with its downwardly-converging surface forming a continuation of the corresponding portion of the top-body. Above the lower margin of the body said enlargement is preferably cylindrical, as shown, so as to be capable of reciprocatory action in chamber 3, and in the preferred construction the upper end of said plug enlargement is cupshaped, as at 11, so as to fit snugly against the rounded lower end of the resilient cup, as shown.

12 designates the stem of the plug, said stem extending up through the hole 7 of the cup or through the spring, as the case may be, and also up through the sleeve 4 and having a head 13 at its upper end to bear upon the upper end of "the sleeve and prevent the dislocation of the plug. In the preferred construction said head is formed, after the plugis inserted by upsetting the upper end of said stem, by introducing a suitable tool down through bore or passage 2 from the upper part of the top, the upper end of said passage being closed by means of the usual cap 14, commonly found in tops, the head of the plug being adapted to play up and down in said bore or passage 2 above the sleeve 4 in the bounding action of the top, and in this connection it should be stated that the cap is intended to hermetically seal the upper portion .of said passage.

In Fig. 4 the head of the plug is preferably in the form of a radial arm 15, and the sleeve is provided with a slot 16, through which said arm may be passed in securing the plug in position, the plug being given a turn after its head has reached the upper end of the slot, so as to dispose the head out of line with the slot, and thus lock the plug in position, said slot and head 15 being so narrow that there is practically no chance of accidental reengagement and the consequent dislocation of the plug; but in order to guard against any possibility of accidental disengagement the slot 16 may be formed spirally of the sleeve, as shown in Fig. 6, so that should the head register with the upper end of said slot in any rebounding action of the top the spiral groove will retard the dislocation of the plug to such an extent that the top may again strike the ground before the dislocation can take place, its subsequent contact with the ground again driving the plug upward until its head is above the top of the sleeve. With a top of this character it will be apparent that when thrown violently to the ground the air in chamber 3 will with the resilient cup 6 or spring 8, as the case maybe, be strongly and suddenly compressed, which compressed air, in conjunction with the resiliency of the cup or spring and the natural tendency of the top, will cause the latter to bound high into the air, the spinning action maintaining the equilibrium of the top while off the ground. As it strikes the ground a second time the air and cup or spring will again be compressed, though not to the same extent as before, and as a result the top will instantly rebound, this rebounding action being repeated a number of times and each rebound to a less height than the preceding one. The rebounding action will continue until the spinning action of the top is nearly spent, as will be readily understood.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a top embodying the features of advantage enumerated as desirable and which is obviously susceptible of modification'in some particulars without departing from the principle and scope or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A top, comprising a body having a central bore or passage, and a chamber or enlargement for said bore or passage at its lower end, a guide sleeve secured insaid bore or passage and having an outwardly-projecting flange bearing against the top of said chamber, a resilient device in the chamber and hear ing at its upper end against said flange, and a plug fitting in said chamber and bearing against the lower end of said resilient device, and having a stem extending up through the latter and the guide-sleeve and provided with a head overlying the sleeve.

2. A top, comprising a body portion having a chamber in its lower end, a guide-sleeve above said chamber, a resilient cup in said chamber, and a plug also fitting in said chamher and against the bottom of the cup, and provided with a stem projecting up through the cup and said sleeve and provided with a head overlying the latter.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM GRIFFIN.

Witnesses: H. G. RODGERS, G. Y. THORPE. 

